Mechanical football yards and down markers



I I Ma iy 1 9,1970 R. TOMIY..INSOYN "ET-AL 3,512,260

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United States Patent 3,512,260 MECHANICAL FOOTBALL YARDS AND DOWNMARKERS John R. Tomlinson, 2511 Mulder St., Lemon Grove, Calif. 92045,and Richard L. Ridgway, 4320 Calavo Drive, La Mesa, Calif. 92041 FiledFeb. 28, 1967, Ser. No. 619,234 Int. Cl. G01c /00 US. Cl. 33-46 3 ClaimsABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Markers to indicate on a football field thedistance to a first down, the number of the down, and the location ofthe football. The markers are secured to mounting means adjacent thesideline of the field, and power means are connected to the mountingmeans which, when activated, will shiftably move the markers parallelwith the sideline. 1

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to devices forindicating the first down yardage, the down, and the location of afootball with reference to the sideline of a football field.

Conventionally, the physical location of a football on a playing fieldis indicated by a down marker pole aligned transversely on one sidelineof the field. Each time the football is moved a lineman moves the downmarker pole to indicate the new position, and adjusts the down number.During play, the down marker pole is held upright by a lineman toindicate the position of the football when the play began. .j

The yardage required to be made for a first down is indicated on theplaying field by a pair of yardage marker poles connected by a chain tenyards long. A lineman holds each of these poles spaced longitudinallythe full length of the tightly stretched chain aligned parallel alongthe sideline of the playing field. The rear pole is aligned laterallywith the football when the series of plays begins, so that the forwardpole indicates the distance required for a first down. When a first downis made, the rear pole is moved forward along the sideline, againaligned laterally with the football, and the forward pole is moved aheaduntil the connecting chain is stretched tight.

If the down marker pole, when aligned with the football, is moved pastthe forward yard marker pole, a first down has been made. In practicalusage, on close plays the alignment of the poles is too inaccurate to besatisfactory. Thus, the game is temporarily stopped -so that the linemancan take the yards marker poles onto the playing field and physicallymeasure the distance to a first down. Such stoppage is time-consuming,interferes with the flow of the game, and involves a cumbersome manualoperation which desirably should be eliminated.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Therefore, this invention mechanizes thefootball yards and down markers to eliminate the necessity for manualmovement by linemen.

Further, this invention provides football yards and down markers on asideline with accurate means for lateral alignment with a football onthe playing field.

This invention also provides mechanized football yards and down markerswhich are movable by remote control along a sideline of a footballfield.

Football yards and down markers in accordance with this invention aremovably mounted in a trench extending along the sideline and beyond theend zone of the playing field. Each of the markers is a pole which has atransit for accurate lateral alignment with a football on the playingfield. A remotely controlled switch actu- 3,512,260 Patented May 19,1970 BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a schematic top planview showing one side of a football field having a yards and down markersystem in accordance with this invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic top plan view of an embodiment of a controlmechanism for the yards markers and down marker.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a push button switch box to electricallyoperate a control mechanism as in FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a longitudinally sectioned, partly elevational view of therelative location of the down marker and yards markers.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged, partly elevational sectional view of the down andyards markers and their operational mounting taken through 5-5 in FIG.4.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Briefly, mechanicallyindependently actuated down marker 10 and yards markers 12 and 14 aremounted for movement parallel to the sideline 15 of a football field 16within a shallow, elongated trench 18 which normally extends slightlybeyond each of the end zones 20 and 22. The movements of the down marker10 and yards markers 12 and 14 are controlled by a pair of poweroperated, pulley mounted cables 24 and 26, respectively, which lie sideby side in trench 18 and extend for its entire length.

The trench 18, as best viewed in FIG. 5, is recessed in the groundparallel to and about six inches from the sideline 15 of the playingfield 16. This trench 18 is preferably constructed of reinforcedconcrete, and formed with a flat, slightly laterally tilted bottom floor28, and a pair of spaced, vertical side walls 30 and 32 rising therefromto the surface of the surrounding turf-covered ground 34. To facilitatedrainage from the trench, a series of spaced, drain pipes 36 extend froma drainage system (not shown) laterally through the bottom of side wall32 to receive fluid flowing from the adjacent lower side of the floor 28in the bottom of trench 18.

Raised above the upper surface of floor 28 and extending laterally fromside wall 30 the length of trench 18 is a flat, horizontal support plate38. The cables 24 and 26 are each part of power operated pulley systemswhereby two parallel portions of each cable rest side by side in curved,spaced guide recesses 46a, 40b, 40c and 40d, cut longitudinally parallelto each other in the top surface of support plate 38. The down marker 10and the yard markers 12 and 14 are, respectively, secured to theadjacent portions of cables 24 and 26 by U-shaped clamps 42 and bolts44, so that they are carried along with these cables when the cables aremoved. The yard markers 12 and 14 are spaced precisely ten yards aparton cable 26, the distance required for a first down in a football game.

The trench 18 is covered to provide an upper guide means for the downand yards markers and to prevent possible injury to persons who mightstep into an open trench. Thus, secured to the top of side wall 30 oftrench 18, along its entire length, is a T-shaped plate 46, which has ahorizontal top surface flush with the turf of the adjacent ground 34. Inturn, secured to the outer edge of this plate 46, and extendinghorizontally over trench 18 immediately above support plate 38, is aguide bracket 48. This guide bracket 48 extends the entire length of thetrench and is provided wtih longitudinally extending slots 48a and 48b,perpendicularly disposed above recesses 40b and 400, respectively. Theslots 48a and 48b are slightly wider than the width of the markers 10,12 and 14, so that they Will provide a smooth guide means for themarkers which protrude through these slots when they are carried alongby movements of cables 24 and 26. The upper surface of the outer edge48c of bracket 48 is slightly recessed so as to provide a support forthe other portion of the structure covering trench 18, which is to bedescribed hereinafter.

On the opposite side of the trench 18 from plate 46 and bracket 48, thecovering structure is an angle plate 50 secured to the inner top edge ofside wall 32 by hinges 52. This plate 50 is positioned to extendlaterally across trench 18 so that its outer edge rests in recess 48c ofguide bracket 48, and its upper surface is horizontal and flush with theturf on the adjacent ground 34. A number of struts 54 extend between theopposite legs of angle plate 50 to brace the structure. Since angleplate 50 is intended to be lifted for easy maintenance of the trench 18,it is preferably laterally divided into a number of easily handledsections. To provide a somewhat cushioned cover and camouflage for thetrench, imitation grass, such as produced under the trade name Grasstex,is secured to the top surface of plate 46, guide bracket 48 and angleplate 50. Though other material could be used, it is contemplated thatguide bracket 48 and plates 46 and 50 be made of one-half inchgalvanized steel.

The markers 10, 12 and 14 are upright poles made of hard rubber,plastic, metal or wood, and are secured at their lower ends by theaforesaid clamps 42 to the cables 24 and 26. Slightly above where themarker poles project through the guide slots 48a and 4812, they eachinclude a universal ball joint 54, which is spring tensioned to normallymaintain the poles upright. However, when pressed by the weight of aperson, they bend at these joints 54, thereby avoiding injury to playersor other persons who may run into them.

In order to properly laterally align the marker poles with a football56, or lines on the playing field 16, each pole is provided with rugged,but accurate, optical transit 58, preferably located in the upperportion of the marker poles and adjusted for precise direct alignmentlaterally across the field 16. To identify the yards markers 12 and 14,the upper ends are formed as round enlarged portions of the poles. Thetop end of the downs marker 10, in turn, has four plates 60 numberedfrom one to four, and pivotally mounted on a ring 62 so that they may beselectively swung into view to indicate the correct down. Though shownusing single, manually operated, down indicator plates, variouselectronic or mechanical indicators could be installed in place of thedown plates 60 on marker 10. Also, lights could be installed on themarker poles so they could be more readily visible at night.

Cables 24 and 26 are moved as part of a pulley system, best viewed inthe illustrative schematic view of H6. 2. Thus, a horizontal shaft 64,having four separately rotatable segments, extends laterally across oneend of trench 18. Reels 66, 68, 70 and 72 are carried on theseseparately rotatable segments of shaft 64 and are engaged for rotationtherewith. One endof cable 24 is wound around adn secured to reel 66 andthe opposite end is wound around and secured to reel 68. Theintermediate portion of cable 24 is looped around an axially verticalrotatable pulley 74, mounted at the opposite end of trench 18 from thereels 66 and 68. In a like manner, one end of cable 26 is secured to andwound around reel 70, the other end secured to and wound around reel 72,and the intermediate portion of cable 26 looped around an axiallyvertical rotatable pulley 76, mounted at the opposite end of trench 18from reels 70 and 72.

Since down marker is attached to cable 24, it will move longitudinallyrelative to field 1-6, as the cable 24 is wound and unwound from reels66 and 68. Likewise,

yards markers 12 and 14, since attached to cable 26, will movelongitudinally relative to field 16 as the cable 26 is wound and unwoundfrom reels 70 and 72. Motive power to rotate selected portions of shaft64 and the reel engaged thereto is provided by power unit for reels 66and 68, and power unit 82 for reels 70 and 72. A remotely operatedcontrol box 84 is connected to each of the power units 80 and 82 by acable 86, or other suitable electronic means. It has separate pushbutton switches 90, 92, 94 and 96, which selectively cause engagementand rotation of reels 66, 68, 70 and 72. This, in turn, causes movementof the marker which is attached to the cable that is moved. To indicatewhich marker is being moved, and in what direction it is being moved,the push buttons and 92 are designated D, F and R for downs marker,forward and reverse, and push buttons 94 and 96 are designated Y, F andR, for yards marker, forward and reverse.

In operation, the remote control switch box 84 permits a single gameofiicial, such as the Head Linesman, to control the movement of themarkers 10, 12 and 14. Thus, to assure accuracy of measurement, theomcial in charge of this control verifies the correct positioning of themarkers by an optical check through the transit 58 on the particularmarker being aligned. When the marker 10 is aligned laterally with afootball 56 on the playing field 16, and passes the forward yards marker14, a first down has been made, which can be quickly verified even inclose measurements, without the necessity, as previously required, forstopping the game or physically carrying a pair of yards markers andconnecting chain onto the playing field. Thus, a good deal of playingtime is saved, and the number of linemen required to handle themeasurement is substantially reduced. To allow the maximum flexibilityof movement for the marker control ofiicial, the connecting line 86 willextend the full length of the field, or operate by a radio signalingmeans.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus adapted to be used in conjunction with a game of footballplayed upon a football field comprising a down marker, a pair of yardsmarkers fixedly spaced from each other in longitudinal relation to thelength of said football field, first means exterior of said footballfield for mounting said down marker for longitudinal movement parallelwith the sideline of said football field, second means exterior of saidfootball field for mounting said pair of yards markers for longitudinalmovement parallel with said sideline, said first and second means beingadjacent each other and adjacent said sideline of said football field,power means for shifting said down marker, and power means for shiftingsaid yards marker, whereby said longitudinal parallel movement of saiddown marker and said yards marker adjacent said sideline isindependently controllable, wherein the down marker and the pair ofyards markers are upright universally pivotable poles, and wherein thelower portions of the poles comprising the down marker and the yardsmarkers are recessed in a trench spaced from and parallel to a sidelineof the playing field and extending the length of said playing field, andsaid trench is provided with longitudinal guide means to facilitatemovement of each of said poles within said trench.

2. Mechanical football yards and down markers adapted to be used with afootball field comprising a shallow, elongated trench adjacent to andspaced parallel with the sideline of said field and extending beyondboth ends thereof, a yards marker guide track extending longitudinally"within said trench, a down marker guide track extending longitudinallywithin said trench, a pair of yards marker poles movably mounted in saidyards markers guide track and fixedly spaced from each other inlongitudinal relation to the length of said foot-ball field, a downmarker pole movably mounted in said down marker guide track, transitaligning means mounted in each of said down marker and yards markerpoles disposed. to laterally align these poles perpendicular withreference to the sideline of said playing field and selected locationson said playing field, control mean-s for regulating the longitudinalmovement of said yards markers poles, and control means for regulatingthe longitudinal movement of said down marker pole.

3. The combination as defined in claim 2, wherein a separate pulleymounted movable cable extends longitudinally within said down and yardsmarker guide tracks, the yards marker poles are attached to the cable insaid yards marker guide track, and the down marker pole is attached tothe cable within said down marker guide track, power operated reel meansadapted to Wind and unwind each of said cables, and a remotelycontrolled switch to selectively actuate said power operated reel meansto wind and unwind each of said cables and move the marker polesattached thereto.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,990,809 2/1935 Wright 116-1202,060,165 11/1936 Borleske 33-46.07 2,139,300 12/1938 Cassell et al.3346.07 2,539,560 1/1951 Wilson 3346.07

HARRY N. HAROIAN, Primary Examiner

